Every Rose Has Its Thorn
by Lily Orange
Summary: Rose Weasley keeps a diary documenting the painfully excruciating ways she manages to humiliate herself in front of the love of her life, Scorpius Malfoy – who, by familial tradition, she’s supposed to hate... Includes much humour, friendship and romance.
1. September 1st

_Every Rose Has Its Thorn_

By Lily Orange

_Rose Weasley keeps a diary documenting the painfully excruciating ways she manages to humiliate herself in front of the love of her life, Scorpius Malfoy – who, by familial tradition, she's supposed to hate..._

***

Chapter One

_September 1__st_

In which I managed to make an absolute fool of myself, completely accidentally...

Have I ever mentioned how annoying it is having a younger brother (younger by two years, though his maturity age is certainly not the same as his actual age, he acts as if he is about five) and cousins (James, two years older than me and in the same league as Hugo, my younger brother, for a distinct absence of maturity and Albus, my closest friend in the whole world, plus countless others I could mention owing to the fact that we have a rather large family) that girls seem to just hanker after?

Seriously, the moment I stepped over the threshold of King's Cross Station this morning, my dad following me with my case in his hand – he can have the trouble of carrying my books and clothes, of a weight roughly equivalent to an obese baby elephant – and my mum and him arguing over whether or not he could actually drive properly and whether he should have passed his test (it is certainly questionable, but, if I was my mum, I wouldn't enter a debate about it with him as it could go on for the next twenty million years), this girl in my year named Ophelia Blake ran up to me, smiling widely as if she was my best friend.

For the record, she was not. Ophelia Blake regarded boys and romancing them as more important than gaining qualifications that could help us have great lives in the future and working hard at school. That's probably why when she ran up to me she seemed to have forgotten to put on her skirt, the t-shirt dress thing she was wearing was _that_ short. It's not as if she had a bad figure (though I swear her chest is larger than the average fifteen-year-old. Unfortunately mine is practically non-existent and am waiting for it to kick in, hopefully in the near future) but I didn't see why she had to dress herself up, or rather, _undress_ herself to the point where if she had been standing on a street corner, people may have been worried.

Ophelia, known affectionately as "Lia" to her friends, i.e. not me, only talked to me when she wanted something. She was in Hufflepuff, so she was practically obligated to be nice to everybody on the bloody planet, but I swear she had a cunning streak to her.

But maybe that's just me being suspicious.

"Rose, Rose!" she shouted cheerfully, as if I was Keira Knightley, that Muggle actress, or something. Though, considering it was Ophelia, she was more likely visualizing some toned Quidditch player, rather than a woman who has played countless literary and legendary heroines such as Elizabeth Bennett, Guinevere (King Arthur's wife and Lancelot's lover), Lara (of _Doctor Zhivago_) and Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire. She was a much better role model than somebody like... Lavender B, the wizarding pop singer who my mum told me that my dad went out with at school. Every time Lavender's name is mentioned (normally by Hugo, who thinks, rather misguidedly, she is a sex goddess – his words, not mine!) he splutters and turns even redder than usual, so I think this is a confirmation that he did briefly date her before he married my mum.

I'm so glad he did marry my mum. I don't know what I would do if I had a pop star for a mother.

"Who's that?" I heard my mum say to my dad, cleverly bringing their argument about the state of my dad's driving to an abrupt end. To be honest, I think the outward state of the car is testimony enough. Who else, apart from my dad, Ronald Bilius Weasley, would crash a car into a lamppost, or manage to drive us from the road into a field and narrowly miss a cow? I still don't know how he did that, and am slightly too frightened to read up on it.

"That's Ophelia Blake," I hissed back, plastering a semi-fake smile on my face as she approached me warmly, her light hair fanning out behind her as she ran, not dissimilar to the way my Auntie Fleur's hair goes when she runs. Though she doesn't run very often.

"Hi Rose, have a good summer?" she asked, stopping right by me. Hugo gave me a quizzical look before trotting off with my parents down the escalators to the platform. Since they installed escalators here – well, the technical term for them is travelators, like the ones they have in the big Asda superstore near where we live – we've stopped bringing my Granddad Weasley as he gets rather enraptured when riding up and down them, and then my Grandma Weasley, the best cook in the whole wide world, perhaps even better than the house elves at Hogwarts (who I ensured were all given pay and holidays and everything), starts shouting at him. Instead we say goodbye to them on August the Thirty-First, when all the Weasley-Potters meet up at the Burrow. It gets quite full, I can tell you.

Here's a quick rundown of the extensive group of people that is my family: I have six Uncles (well, my Uncle Fred is deceased but I still class him as my Uncle), five Aunties, ten cousins plus then there is my Auntie Luna and Uncle Rolf, who come anyway even though they aren't technically part of the family, and with them comes Lorcan and Lysander, their twin boys. So, theoretically, I have seven Uncles, six Aunties, twelve cousins, plus then all the grandparents come round – so that's quite a lot of people filling up the Burrow. Al, James, Lorcan, Lysander, Hugo, Fred and Louis always start up a Quidditch game and want to play boys versus girls – which would mean a team consisting of Victoire, Dominique, Molly, Lucy, Roxanne, Lily and I, though this poses several complications. Victoire is a lot older than me, she was born on the second anniversary of when Voldemort was killed by my Uncle Harry, with the help of my mum and dad (Dad constantly reminds me of this) but I was born quite a few years later. She was in her last year at Hogwarts when I first started, and has now left. She owns her own dress shop in Diagon Alley and is engaged to Teddy Lupin, Uncle Harry's godson, who also comes round on August the Thirty-First. This means she doesn't like to engage in playing Quidditch and prefers to sit in a secluded area of the garden with Teddy where she thinks we can't see them (but we can, and let me tell you, I'm surprised they haven't suffocated from lack of oxygen yet). I don't like to play Quidditch and much prefer to sit and read, but then Al begs me to join in and Hugo threatens to burn my Limited Edition copy of _Hogwarts: A History_ (a gift from my mum) if I don't so I have to play. Let me tell you, I am the WORST Quidditch player in history, even worse than my mum, who was pretty pathetic at it, by all accounts. All of these people buzzing around the Burrow makes it FORTY people sitting down for dinner.

Told you I had a large family.

"Yes, thanks, it was great," I replied cordially, quickly trying to find a way I could get away from Ophelia before she asks me to do something and I feel bad so say yes. She was unaware of this – instead she was smoothing down her t-shirt-cum-stupidly-short-dress and smiling charmingly at me like she was genuinely interested in what I had to say.

Remembering the manners I had been indoctrinated with since birth by my etiquette-obsessed mother, I added, "How was yours?"

"Oh, it was absolutely brilliant. We went to Australia for a month and spent the whole time on the beach, even though it was quite chilly, because their–" Ophelia gushed brightly.

"Their wintertime is when we have summer," I supplied for her. _I _had wanted to go to Australia, but I wouldn't have wasted away a month sunbathing on the beach. I would have visited the Sydney Opera House, gone into the outback and would have gone to the Great Barrier Reef. I wouldn't have spent it sunning myself – partly because I burn after thirty seconds owing to the fact I have pale skin and flaming red hair, which is so characteristic of the Weasleys. Also, my hair isn't even _straight_, like my cousin Lily's, Auntie Ginny and Uncle Harry's youngest child. No, it's bushy. I swear it looks like tangerine-flavoured candy floss some days, it's that bad. Whenever I moan about it in Victoire or Dominique's presence, they always whip out the Sleekeazy Hair Potions and tame it for me. It looks good then but, to be honest, I couldn't be bothered to do it every day; it's far too much effort.

"Yeah," she smiled, "so I was wondering..."

Here it came, her ridiculous request for me to do something for her. Well, I was not tutoring her in Transfiguration or Charms, partnering with her in Potions or Defence Against The Dark Arts (I was a popular partner choice in lessons as I was, not wishing to sound boastful as it's what Al and James and countless other people have informed me, the cleverest girl in my year) or helping her with a Care of Magical Creatures project. No way, no way José–

"...if you could introduce me to your cousin James?" she finished nervously, batting her excruciatingly long eyelashes at me. Honestly, was there _anything _defective about this girl? She was tall, slim, bodacious, pretty, blonde, green-eyed and just an all round beauty. Plus, she had long eyelashes.

I know you shouldn't hate people because they're pretty, but I strongly disliked Ophelia.

"My cousin _James_?" I stammered, not quite sure why. "Why would you want to be introduced to _James_?"

James Sirius Potter – my older cousin, Auntie Ginny and Uncle Harry's oldest son. He was in seventh year, two years above me and his brother Al, apparently – according to the female population of Hogwarts – gorgeous and very sexy. Obviously I couldn't comment on this as I am his cousin, but the girls who proclaimed this so ardently had not seen James picking his nose when he was little or running around the garden of his house with no clothes on. Admittedly, that was when he was about four, but I had _suffered _these severely damaging sights! I had also been subject to his esteemed pranking abilities, meaning that I had, several times, woken up with my hair a different colour, covered in water or – even worse – the acne-provoking potion he bought from Uncle George's shop Weasley's Wizard Wheezes (not that it really made much difference in my case as I, unlike Ophelia, was not blessed with flawless skin) plus lots more that if I mention will make my brain explode.

"Um... because he's pretty cool?" Ophelia offered.

I established this as Ophelia-language for, "I fancy your cousin James like mad and think he is HOT!"

Once I had made the correct translation, I think I must have pulled a disgusted facial expression, which made Ophelia flinch a little bit.

"Oh, uh, sorry, yes, James! We are talking about the same James, right? Six foot, dark auburn hair, brown eyes? Full name James Sirius Arseboy Potter?" I said in confusion.

"Sorry – what?" Now it was Ophelia's turn to look confused.

"Um, must have got his name a_ tad _wrong there, I meant James Sirius Potter. Must have got him mixed up with somebody else!" I said apologetically, and she smiled in confirmation. I was surprised she didn't question who exactly would have the middle name "Arseboy" and why their parents were cruel enough to give it to him, but she wasn't in Hufflepuff for nothing. If she was a Ravenclaw she would and if she was a Gryffindor perhaps she would have laughed, same probably with a Slytherin, who seem to find me rather amusing.

I'm not sure that it's complimentary though.

"You want me to introduce you to James?" I repeated, just to make sure.

"Yes," Ophelia said slowly as if she was talking to an imbecile. Which, at that moment, I was probably being.

"Okay – but are you sure? There're boys that are a lot more pleasant!" I tried to dissuade her, but she shook her pretty little head and fell into step beside me as I embarked on a dual mission to simultaneously catch up with my family and find Al.

It wasn't long before I located my family – my mum, dad and little brother were nearly at the barrier for Platform Nine and Three-Quarters (why is it not named Nine and a Half if it is between Platforms Nine and Ten? The pillar is halfway between the two platforms! Logic surely dictates that it should be Nine and a Half!) so I increased my pace in order to catch up with them.

Ophelia quickly managed to keep up – did I forget to mention that besides being beautiful and nice, she's also athletic?

And people wonder why there is hatred in the world.

"Mum!" I shouted over the crowd – I am not very tall so this makes it difficult to attract people's attention in such situations as this – scurrying between people who continually bashed my legs brutally with their big, fat, savage briefcases.

Honestly, where are the manners in this world?

"Rose?" I heard my brother call, obviously recognising my voice in the hustle and bustle of people on the platforms. Eventually Ophelia and I managed to get through to them. They were standing right in front of the barrier, Hugo quite capably carrying his own trunk (then again he is five inches taller than me, which is so not fair because he is two years younger!) and Dad lugging mine around.

"Ready, slow coach?" Hugo asked and I nodded, ignoring his stupid little nickname for me, and walked straight through the barrier. I have to say, I have always kind of had issues with this barrier because I am scared that, like it did when my dad and Uncle Harry were in their second year, the barrier will close and I will walk into a solid brick wall and fall on the floor and die from the amount of concussion I receive, or alternatively forget who I am and think that I am a Hippogriff called Wanda.

I have a rather over active imagination.

"Hey, Rose!" I heard the familiar voice of my best friend and cousin, Albus Severus Potter. He emerged through the crowd, his jet black hair as messy as ever and his emerald green eyes glinting mischievously. I wish I looked as distinct as Al (I don't mean like a boy! Merlin forbid!) but unfortunately, unless I purchased some hair dye and contact lenses, I would forever remain red-haired and blue-eyed, which, in my opinion, was a rather boring combination.

"Al!" I said happily, throwing my arms around him in an ecstatic hug. Fortuitously, I had never been subjected to seeing Al picking his nose or running around his garden naked like his older brother. Also, Al does not prank me like James does.

"Why is Ophelia next to you?" Al whispered in my ear as he pulled away, his eyebrows raised comically.

"Where's James?" I said rather pointedly, and Al understood that next to me was another one of those girls who thought his older brother was "hot".

"He's already on the train. Hi Hugo, how's it going?" Al greeted my younger brother enthusiastically. Hugo grinned.

"Fine thanks, seen Lily?" Lily Luna Potter was Al's younger sister and, along with Lorcan and Lysander Scamander, was best friends with Hugo. It's good our family gets on with each other; otherwise we would have _serious _problems.

"On the train also, I think, mate," Al smiled helpfully, and Hugo bounded off, carrying his suitcase with ease. "Come on Tiny, let's go get us a carriage," he said as my parents went over to talk to Uncle Harry and Auntie Ginny who were already conversing with Uncle Newt and Auntie Luna.

"How many times have I told you not to call me that?" I rebuked him as we stepped through the door of the scarlet steam train that was the Hogwarts Express in order to locate ourselves a carriage.

"Yeah, but it's fitting," he teased. Al, like his brother, was reasonably tall, unlike me, who only reached a miserable height of five foot two. Because of this, I had to pay attention to whether I was eating too much cake as otherwise I would be Arsegirl and look quite similar to a pig.

We settled ourselves in the nearest compartment, and I went off with Ophelia in order to locate James, whilst Al made himself comfortable on the cushioned seat and brought out his copy of the _Daily Prophet_,which he only bought so he could check the Quidditch scores.

I eventually found James, who was laughing and joking with his friends in a carriage near the bottom of the train. Inside said carriage was seated Louis (Victoire and Dominique's younger brother – they had both left Hogwarts now), Fred II (Uncle George and Auntie Angelina's oldest son) and then Michael Davies, Ben Richardson and another cousin of mine, Molly (Uncle Percy and Auntie Audrey's oldest daughter), who was actually in sixth year but was going out with Ben so always sat with him and James' friends.

"Hey, Rose!" James said happily. He stood up and gave me a quick hug, but was peering over my shoulder the whole time, staring at Ophelia, who was smiling coyly and twisting a piece of her sunny blonde hair around her finger flirtatiously. "And who is _this_?" he inquired, eyeing Ophelia appreciatively.

"This is Ophelia Blake," I introduced in my uniform voice that I did whenever I had to introduce girls to boys in my family (believe me, it happened quite a lot).

"Hey Ophelia, want to sit with us?" he asked, shoving Fred up so that there was a space beside him.

"Love to," she replied. I guessed I wasn't needed anymore, so I left the carriage so that I could return to the one I was sharing with Al. I hoped to Merlin there were no girls in it when I got back as Al was now considered a heart throb (well, according to random girls in my classes who gossiped about him to no end) so it may have been possible.

When I got there, however, there was no other girls in there, but there was another person in there besides Al. Al was still lying down, but the _Daily Prophet _was now discarded and he was deep in conversation with the other person – Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy.

His mop of platinum blonde hair and grey-blue eyes were immediately distinctive, as was his pale skin and aristocratic good looks. And I admit that they were exquisitely good looks, it was almost as if that boy had been fashioned by the gods, he was _that _beautiful.

But I didn't fancy him. Obviously not, that would be stupid. Besides, there was this long time family feud between the Malfoys and ours. Although Scorpius' father, Draco Malfoy, is sort of friendly with our parents now, there's still this element of competition between us. That would eliminate any hope of romance. Not that I was hoping for any, I was just saying.

I prayed my hair was looking less out of control as I slid open the door of the compartment and entered. Both boys looked up at me as I did, and as I stepped inside, I managed to trip over Albus' damned shoes he had kicked off when he had gotten on the seating and fell over. Yes, I fell head first...

Into Scorpius Malfoy's lap.

I was practically lying in his lap, and he was looking at me quizzically and as if he thought I was really clumsy, which I am – though it's Albus' fault for leaving his BLOODY SHOES THERE – and I was completely red-faced. I could feel the heat of my face as I blushed insanely.

I didn't get why I was blushing though, as I so obviously don't fancy him.

So patently NOT.


	2. Still September 1st

**Every Rose Has Its Thorn**

_**By Lily Orange**_

_Rose Weasley keeps a diary documenting the painfully excruciating ways she manages to humiliate herself in front of the love of her life, Scorpius Malfoy – who, by familial tradition, she's supposed to hate..._

_A/N: _Sorry about the excruciatingly long wait for another chapter! Thank you for all the reviews, alerts and favourites, it means a lot to me and thanks for your continued support :) Good news is though there are only 5 exams standing between me and complete freedom on Thursday afternoon so I will be able to write whenever I like (within reason though, haha!) so hopefully the updates will come quicker. Hope everybody's okay, enjoy the chapter and please reviewww! :) Xxx

* * *

**Chapter Two**

**_Still September 1__st_**

In which I attempt to rectify what I did by being effortlessly cool, but it turns out it takes a LOT of effort...

* * *

To be honest, although I shouldn't say this, Scorpius Malfoy's lap is so damn comfortable! Well, I was only on his lap for about thirty seconds when I was blushing like a lobster (do lobsters blush? Note to self: look it up in the library when at school) and he was looking at me strangely before I leaped off it and sat in the corner of the carriage by the window. Al was still laughing at the way I tripped over, he wasn't even concerned about the fact I may have seriously injured myself. No, he was too busy practically _choking _on his own _LAUGHTER _while he lay down chortling away to himself.

Such a supportive best friend, that Albus Potter.

NOT.

"Are you alright, Rose?" Scorpius asked tentatively.

_Well_, I thought, _no, Scorpius, I'm not alright, as I just embarrassed myself so much I thought I might die whilst lying on your lap. But it's okay, you know, I'll be fine. In two hundred years or so._

Instead of saying what immediately came to mind, I calmly replied, "Yes, thank you, I'm absolutely fine." And proceeded to take a book out of my bag. See how brilliantly I dealt with the situation?

Well, it would have been brilliant if I hadn't have momentarily metamorphosed into a lobster, but we're not all perfect, are we? Not like Ophelia bloody Blake, who was currently probably snogging the face off of my cousin who had some strange status as a school heart throb. I reiterate: WHAT ABOUT THE NOSE-PICKING AND THE RUNNING AROUND NAKED?

Where is the justice in the world? I never picked my nose when I was little (as far as I know – I was too scared that it would fall off if I even touched it) or ran around our garden naked. I was a good girl! For crying out loud, I could read by the time I was eighteen months old! I behaved well all the way through my junior years when my mum and dad taught me stuff (oh how eloquent of you Rose – they taught you "stuff") and it's not me, it's my stupid cousin who has the bloody heart throb thing going on!

Not that I particularly want to be a heart throb, per se, I just kind of want to be... fancied. By a few people. Who are actually cool, not weird. Personally, I feel sorry for Lysander Scamander, as Lily (Potter) loves him and has done ever since she met him, at birth. Lily herself is really pretty – she has copper-coloured hair, not carrot-coloured like mine, and large emerald eyes. According to Uncle Harry and everybody who meets her, she looks _exactly _like Uncle Harry's mum, another Lily, who died when Uncle Harry was one. They all say that Uncle Harry looks like his dad, another James, too. Apparently James, as in my cousin, was named after Uncle Harry's dad and his godfather, Sirius Black. They were both mischievous, which shows. James is the most mischievous person I have ever met, bar Al, who, once he gets going, can be really bad when he wants to be. Not naughty, just – bending the rules slightly. And obviously, in my new role as Prefect – yes, I, Rose Monica Weasley, am a Gryffindor Prefect! – I can't aid him on these little escapades. Instead I sit in the common room, doing work and the like. It's quite depressing how little of a life I have, to be honest. Maybe that's why I don't possess a heart throb status like James, who has the biggest social life out of anybody I've ever met.

"Er, Rose?" Albus said, waving a hand in front of my face. I snapped out of my reverie where I was having an internal rant at the beautiful people of the world and looked up at my cousin and his best (male) friend, Scorpius. Who also happens to be a Gryffindor (breaking his family tradition of being in Slytherin, just like Uncle Harry's godfather Sirius Black) – so there's no escaping him.

Not that I'd want to escape from him. He's a perfectly amiable boy – bloody hell, I sound like I've swallowed an Austen novel.

"Yes?" I answered, putting my book down.

"Are you sure you're okay? You were kind of, um, muttering to yourself. Rather furiously," Al said in a worried voice, eyeing me as if I was about to explode into flames.

I was MUTTERING? Bloody hell, they could probably hear my internal rant that was probably not internal at all, it was EXTERNAL! That meant they probably heard how I was jealous of James because he was a heart throb! And that I never picked my nose or ran around naked as a child! Actually, that's not shameful, that's a good thing.

"Like I said before, I'm fine," I told him. NOT. I was so not fine. I was too busy being annoyed at James and his similar beautiful people. It was like they were a separate species to me – which they probably were. It would explain the candy-floss hair and the thighs and bum that magically expand every time I touch a piece of cake.

"What are you reading?" Scorpius questioned. I could tell he was only trying to make some sort of conversation to prevent me from going weird on them again. He was okay, he hadn't fallen in MY lap, no, I had to fall in HIS lap. Stupid boy. Stupid door. Stupid lap of the stupid boy that was so stupidly comfortable.

"_Pride and Prejudice_," I informed him, holding up the cover.

"Great book," he mused.

"Have you actually _read_ it?" I said, snorting with laughter. Scorpius didn't read for _fun_. In fact, Scorpius didn't even read for school activities if he didn't have to. He could read, obviously, but he just preferred to do other stuff.

And my snort of laughter probably wasn't the most ladylike in the world, adding to the whole horrific candy floss hair and thighs and bum enlarging thing. I was just one big CLOWN.

"I have!" Al piped up, sitting up for the first time of the journey. We were now past the outskirts of London and were chugging through rolling countryside. It was quite picturesque out of the window, actually. I loved the countryside – it was so clean and naturally beautiful.

"Are you sure?" I asked sceptically. Al didn't really tend to read either, in fact, he used to get annoyed by how much I read.

"Well, I read the back cover," he said defensively, and me and Scorpius both chuckled. Actually genuinely laughing, _together_. Well, it was something.

"I read more than that, I read the whole thing," Scorpius informed us both.

"When?" I demanded, my jaw practically dropping off. Scorpius had read this book? _My favourite book in the whole wide world_?

"This summer," he replied, looking kind of taken aback by the expression of my face. To be honest, if I had been him, I would have been.

"You – read – this – book – in – the – summer?" I gasped. Al was giving me strange looks now. Understandably.

"Yes," Scorpius said slowly as if talking to an idiot – this wasn't the first time this had happened this morning, I hasten to add. "I do read, Rose."

"I know," I quickly said, covering up the fact that I had just observed he didn't tend to read if he could get away with it.

"In fact, you rabbit on about that woman, Jane Austen, so much, I read all of her books in the summer. I was a bit bored. Only took me a couple of days. They're quite good, actually," he grinned. I was actually stunned. Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy (I sympathise with him about his middle name – mine's Monica, which is quite nice, compared to Hyperion anyway – what were his parents THINKING?) had actually taken MY, Rose Monica Weasley's, advice.

This was a moment to be recorded for the history books. Nobody ever took my advice, especially not Scorpius. They did if it was to do with answering a question in class, but not on life lessons and stuff like books to read. If they did, everybody I had ever spoken to, bar any Muggles, would have read _Hogwarts: A History_. And everybody would have read every single book written by Jane Austen – and some of Charles Dickens. It was my life goal to read every single book by him.

Some life goal, I hear you say. It is. He was a genius. END OF.

"Are you kidding me?" I said after a couple of seconds.

"No, Rose," he said in that slow patronising voice again, but I didn't care.

"Which was your favourite?" I quizzed him.

"_Mansfield Park_, probably," he replied. I was pleased. It was my second favourite book by her!

"Who was your favourite character?" I persisted.

"What is this Rose, twenty questions?" Al interjected. He was only jealous because he had not taken the initiative to read anything by the fabulous Jane.

"Yes – who is it?" I asked impatiently.

"Probably... Edmund Bertram," he answered slowly, but this time he wasn't being condescending, he was being contemplative. "He seemed nice but a little dense sometimes."

"He does, doesn't he?" I replied, happy that Scorpius and I actually had a topic we could converse about together. Al was looking a bit put out, but that was his problem.

"Can we talk about something else?" Al whined ten minutes later after I had just given Scorpius a detailed analysis of Edmund Bertram's character. "How about... Quidditch?" he suggested. Instantaneously him and Scorpius went off on a Quidditch-related tangent and I returned to my book, struggling to process what Scorpius had just told me.

I was thinking about it continuously for about half an hour, right until the trolley lady came in and knocked on the door, accompanied by her customary, "Anything from the trolley, dears?"

Al, in his usual insatiable state, purchased a large proportion of the food available, leaving very little for the rest of the train. He spread it out all across the seats of the train for me and Scorpius to dip into. The two boys went straight for the Cauldron Cakes and Chocolate Frogs, but I was rummaging through the hoard to try and find something that was remotely low fat. As previously explained, my body has this weird reaction to chocolate and cake – i.e. it expands. A lot. My mum says it doesn't mean I'm fat, it's because I have a curvy shape and then she attempted to compare me to Scarlett Johansson, this muggle actress, but then I reminded her I have a non-existent chest so there wasn't much of a similarity. My mum has a great shape, curvy but still slim at the same time, and I eat exactly the same as her! Perhaps it's because I'm a midget (well, compared to the rest of my stupidly gigantic family), but I didn't want to end up with an arse the size of Australia, which I was dangerously close to getting. It had gotten to the point that I didn't need a cushion to sit on chairs any more.

THAT WAS HOW BAD IT WAS.

"What are you doing, Rose?" Al asked, looking at me weirdly again. I swear all that boy ever _does _is look at me weirdly. This must have been the five hundredth and fifty-fifth time he'd done it this morning.

"Looking for something slightly healthy," I muttered back, lifting up a packet of Bertie Botts' Every Flavour Beans. The two boys exchanged glances and then – _burst out laughing_. They were laughing at me. ME! And my attempt at being healthy! Well, they could get clogged up arteries if they wanted (not that they knew what arteries were) but I, for one, wasn't. Although, technically, I was eating healthily to try and reduce the size of my arse, not de-clog my arteries. (Note to self: Look in a dictionary in the school library to see if "de-clog" is an actual word.)

"Why?" Scorpius choked between guffaws.

"Because I want to eat healthily!" I retorted, casting aside more and more of the stuff Al had bought. They obviously didn't understand the concept of healthy food on the Hogwarts Express, honestly. And the government were supposed to be tackling obesity!

"What's the point?" Al grinned, stuffing about six Chocolate Cauldrons into his mouth at once. Let me tell you it is _not _a pretty sight. Auntie Ginny, having grown up with six older brothers, is pretty hot on table manners (like my mum) so he normally does it to annoy her, and me, because he knows I find it disgusting.

I wrinkled my nose and decided to explain to these boys the concept of healthy eating. "Well, Al, we have this thing called a _heart_. It pumps blood around our _bodies_. We also have _arteries_, vessels that take the blood away from the heart. If we eat lots of fatty food, our arteries get clogged up with stuff and the heart has to work twice as hard to pump the blood around our bodies, which could resort in heart failure or a heart attack."

"Nice," he commented before exploding with laughter yet again, "what's the point of having archies? Anyway, if my archies get filled up with fatty gunk then the Healers at St Mungo's will fix me up."

"Arteries, Al, _ar-te-ries_," I said, correcting him.

"Whatever," he smiled audaciously before ravenously tucking into a pumpkin pasty.

"I'm going to find Pearl," I declared, standing up and almost falling over (fortunately I steadied myself using Al's head instead of going into Scorpius' lap, so I think I managed to stay smooth) and exiting the carriage.

Pearl Isaacs was my other friend in Gryffindor, one of the two girls I shared my dorm with. There was three of us in our year, fifth year, in our house. Pearl and I got on really well, and she was the person I talked too about girly stuff (I seriously need to find a better word than "stuff"!), boys and the like. Al didn't want to hear me drone on about boys I found good-looking, but I offered him girl advice. Not that he really needed it – he was tall and handsome, and girls flocked to him. Just like his older brother really, but Al wasn't as cocky. Thank Merlin – I loved James, but he was a bit too much to handle sometimes.

I found Pearl sitting in a carriage with a mixture of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, plus our other dorm mate, Esther Clarkson. Pearl and I never really talked to Esther that much as she had a boyfriend in Ravenclaw and spent practically every waking moment with him, so she came into the dorm after we had gone to sleep and left before we had woken up. She seemed a nice girl, but we had never really gotten to know her.

"Hi Rose!" Pearl said happily as I came into the carriage. The girls all moved up to make room for me and instantly started asking questions about my summer holidays and whether I'd had a good time.

"I had a really cool time, thanks," I said, leaning back against the wall of the carriage comfortably.

"How's all of your family?" a gossipy-but-nice girl called Lottie asked inquisitively.

"They're all... fine," I replied, mentally going through every single one of my family. "Teddy and Victoire got engaged just after we broke up for the summer."

A loud chorus of "Awwwww..." filled the carriage.

"Was it romantic?" Pearl questioned, listening avidly.

"They were on holiday in Paris and Teddy apparently proposed at the top of the Eiffel Tower at midnight," I quickly filled them in. I could have padded out the story a lot more – Victoire certainly did whenever she told it to anybody. She would start by describing the grand hotel Teddy had booked them into, the fabulous meal he took her to and then the romantic walk they had shared through the streets of Paris on a perfect summer evening. They had wandered towards the Eiffel Tower and decided to go up there – they reached the top and at the very moment the clock struck twelve, Teddy got down on one knee, having already given her a red rose, and produced a blue velvet box with a diamond engagement ring inside. She had tearfully accepted his proposal and they had kissed under the moonlight before returning to their hotel. That was when she would abruptly stop and start eyeing the children in the room nervously. Molly and Lucy, Uncle Percy and Auntie Audrey's daughters, were thoroughly mesmerized by the story and demanded that Victoire retell it every time they saw her.

"That's so beautiful!" Esther commented, offering me the box of Bertie Botts' Every Flavour Beans she had evidently bought for the journey. I politely declined and began to listen to what the other girls were talking about. Then I practically vomited when I realised they were discussing how hot Albus had become over the summer.

"Albus?" I said in shock as they had just gotten onto the subject of his Quidditch-honed body.

"Sorry, Rose, I bet it's weird for you, us talking about your cousin like that!" Lottie apologised.

"Scorpius Malfoy is pretty gorgeous too..." Esther said wickedly.

"What about Mark?" Pearl pointed out. Mark was Esther's boyfriend.

"He's still the most beautiful boy I ever saw," Esther replied, "but Scorpius has become one singularly _hot _boy. Don't you agree, Rose?"

All of the heads in the carriage turned to look at me, waiting patiently for my response. Scorpius? Well, his lap was comfy if you fell in it, but that didn't exactly qualify as him being HOT! I thought he had always been good-looking, with his pale blonde hair, snow white skin and those piercing silver-blue eyes. In fact, he was more than good-looking. He was absolutely stunning.

"I suppose," I shrugged, my attempt at being nonchalant passable enough to persuade Esther, Lottie and the others, but not Pearl, who raised an eyebrow at me questioningly.

Just because I had confessed to having a teeny tiny crush on him in first year didn't mean I still had romantic feelings for him! I mean, come on, I was eleven – I still believed that Father Christmas was real! Now I knew (from hiding behind the sofa when I was thirteen) that it was actually my mum and dad who put out the presents when Hugo and I had gone to bed.

There was no way on this earth I was attracted to Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy – I mean, come on! Rose Monica Malfoy? That sounds –

Actually, it sounds quite good. SHUT UP BRAIN!


	3. Still September the bloody 1st

**Every Rose Has Its Thorn**

_**By Lily Orange**_

_A/N:_ Sorry about the wait, even though I am now finished (YAYYYY!) I have been really busy doing things every day but I'm trying to dedicate a few days this week to writing, so hopefully I can get the updates coming quicker! Thank you to everybody who has reviewed, favourited and alerted this story, you make me so happy :) I hope you enjoy the chapter, please review! xx

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**Chapter Three**

**_Still September the bloody 1__st_**

In which I unintentionally insinuate that I am Scorpius Malfoy's wife to an impressionable first year...

* * *

I spent virtually all the rest of the journey in Pearl's carriage, engaging with their conversation. Maybe they hadn't read all of Jane Austen's books, or taken my advice on something, but they were just as interesting as Scorpius. And Al. Can't forget Al.

Albus Severus Potter had been my best friend since birth, practically. He's slightly older than me, but only by a little bit! He was born on October the twelfth and me on November the sixteenth – but he was so protective of me it was as if I was about three years younger, not a month. To be fair to him, there wasn't many people to protect me from, as all the boys at Hogwarts went for stunning girls like Ophelia (HATE HER!) or my cousins Lily, Lucy and Molly. Likewise, Roxanne, in the year below me, is pretty stunning too. Except me. The whole Weasley family has to be protected by their brothers and numerous cousins of the male variety, except for me. I tell you, it's because when Al and I spent time together over the summer (which was virtually every day, as Hugo and Lily spent time together too) we spent quite a lot of it watching films (I swear Al needs to go to Filmaholics Anonymous, or something, he has _that _many films, it's utterly ridiculous) and simultaneously eating film snacks, which involves popcorn, ice cream and sweets. And a good deal of cake. That's why at the start of the summer I always used to steal Albus' big red cushion and by the end of the summer I didn't need it. Why? Because my arse is so bloody huge it's like there's a cloud attached to it or something.

"Shall we go back to your compartment, Rose, so you can get your bag?" Pearl suggested. I nodded, getting up and wandering out of the compartment door. Pearl quickly followed, concurrently tying her long blonde hair into a ponytail as she stepped out into the corridor. Once she was satisfied her hair was smooth enough and her fringe was straight, she shut the compartment door behind her.

"Don't tell me you still fancy Scorpius Malfoy," she hissed, folding her arms knowledgeably. I could tell I was taking on the persona of a lobster as I rapidly tried to stop myself from blushing. I didn't fancy Scorpius! No bloody way! I could feel my face heating up though, just like it did when I tripped and fell into Scorpius' lap. I mentally visualised my face (not hard – just imagine a snowball with a huge misshapen lump of snow stuck on the front and there you have it) and concentrated on not blushing. But I could tell it wasn't working. Nothing ever happened the way I wanted it too, especially regarding my appearance – hence the candyfloss hair and the expanding body parts. Except the one part of my body I wanted to expand, my chest, was staying stubbornly flat.

Attractive.

"What are you doing, Rose, you look constipated!" Pearl said in alarm. Maybe my de-blushing technique was less than flattering, so I stopped. I didn't want it associated with bowel movements – or rather, lack of bowel movements.

"Thanks Pearl," I snorted sardonically. There went the snort again. Perhaps I was turning into a pig? It would explain a lot of things.

"Seriously, you don't still like him, do you?" Pearl persisted. She still had her arms crossed, making her look very hostile.

"No, of course not!" I said with a wide smile. "That was first year!" I couldn't help but notice that my voice seemed to rise in pitch as I said this, which, according to my family, is a sign of me telling fibs. I was obviously not telling a fib. My feelings for Scorpius were purely platonic... him being Al's best friend (though second only to me!) I had to speak to him quite a lot. Thus I was friendly with him.

"Are you sure about that?" she asked, raising her eyebrows sceptically.

"Absolutely positive!" I laughed wildly, and she looked at me as if I was insane. I was used to this by now, but I still didn't know why people did it. I wasn't INSANE! I wasn't stuck in St Mungo's, like my mum, dad and numerous auntie and uncles' old teacher, Gilderoy Lockhart, who had suffered a backfired memory charm (apparently this was due to my dad's wand which he had snapped in half and repaired with Spellotape – what kind of fool _does_ that? Don't get me wrong, I love my dad, but sometimes... he has me worried). I was a fifteen-year-old with a fully functioning brain but a tendency to be slightly neurotic at times! That didn't make me crazy!

I don't think it did, anyway.

"Shall we go, Rose?" Pearl asked, and I realised I had been standing still in the corridor pondering my sanity whilst she looked on, for quite a few moments.

"Yeppedy yep yep," I replied. Pearl ignored this – and I wondered why I had said it. Luckily I didn't do stupid things like that in front of Scorpius, otherwise he would think I was a complete weirdo.

Not that he didn't already.

The train jerked slightly as we began to sear through hills – however, I managed to keep my balance and successfully sashayed into the compartment without any tripping over, closely followed by Pearl.

"Hey Rose, we were just saying–" Albus said, launching into his usual tirade of babble, but stopped in his tracks when he saw Pearl enter the carriage with me. I could tell it was Pearl who had captivated his attention because his emerald eyes locked on her figure and followed her across the train compartment. She seemed completely unaware of what was going on and how my best friend and cousin had fallen in love with her on the spot (even though he had known her since we were eleven), but Scorpius wasn't. He coughed lightly, evidently hiding suppressed laughter, and smirked to himself. He winked at me – AT ME! – as we both turned back to look at Albus' expression.

"Stop catching flies, Al," I commented jokily as Pearl stood on her tiptoes to reach my bag, which was stashed on the luggage rack, so that both Scorpius and Al could lie lackadaisically across the seats. He flushed red and looked to the floor, too embarrassed to say anything.

"Merlin, I can't reach," Pearl cursed – and I was definitely not going to be able to reach if she couldn't, as she was five foot nine!

"I'll get it for you," Scorpius said helpfully whilst Al continued to stare at Pearl, who was still completely oblivious. He stood up, his tall and muscular frame brushing up against my side as he picked up my bag for me, sending shivers down my spine. He passed it to me, and flashed a winning smile, both at me and Pearl. He was so gorgeous.

"Thanks," I gulped, trying to regain a slightly composed state of mind, but it wasn't happening.

"Shouldn't you be changing into your robes?" Pearl pointed out. "That's what we're going to do."

"Good idea," Scorpius replied, smiling again. Al was still staring – subtlety was not his forte.

"We'll leave you in peace then," she said, turning around to leave; however, halfway around, she caught Albus' eye – he was still looking at her intently. A small smile formed at his lips and his eyes twinkled. Her cheeks reddened slightly, but she just gave him a courteous, "Hey, Albus," before sauntering out of the carriage.

"Don't worry, Al, your secret's safe with me!" I said with maddening enthusiasm before sliding the compartment door shut behind me. The blinds immediately fell to try and give them some privacy, but there were a couple of tantalising gaps either side of them – if I peered through (which I unashamedly did, once I checked the corridor was free – Pearl having gone to the toilet to change) I could just see the silhouette of Scorpius' body as he changed his red t-shirt to the obligatory white school uniform shirt. Bloody hell he was sexy. Completely so. The contours of his abs were illuminated by the low yellow lights fixed to the ceiling of the carriage... it was like an ethereal dream. I knew it was wrong to look, but I couldn't tear my eyes away – it was like they were naturally glued to that gap in the blinds...

"What are you doing?" A small voice suddenly said accusingly. I jumped backwards, falling on my bum (no damage there, the excess padding saw to that), to see what must of been a first year, grinning at me precociously, arms crossed, her hair in two neat caramel plaits down to her chest. She was already dressed in her brand new Hogwarts robes, and reminded me somewhat of a younger me, when I first started at Hogwarts.

"Nothing," I said defiantly.

"Yes you are!" she replied, looking at the compartment door I had just been peering through.

"No, I was just... taking a leisurely stroll down the aisle," I responded.

"Are you sure?" she said accusingly.

"Erm, yes," I muttered, lifting myself up and out of the rather unflattering position I had managed to get myself in.

"Because it looked like you were watching whoever is in there," she said, eyebrow raised. Who did this kid think she was, Sherlock bloody Holmes?

"I think you've made a mistake there, I wasn't," I smiled apologetically, before looking around to leave this horrible situation.

"Yes, you were!" she persisted incessantly. Just as she said that, Al raised the blinds on the carriage, and I could see that him and Scorpius were lounging about on the seats again, laughing about something. Unfortunately, I wasn't laughing, as I was cornered by some eleven-year-old Miss Marple wannabe. She followed my gaze. "Were you staring at him?" she added, glancing swiftly at Al.

No. Bloody. Way.

"No, definitely not, he's my cousin – and, anyway, I wasn't staring!" I shrieked.

"How about him then?" she said, pointing rather conspicuously at Scorpius, who raised his eyebrows at me. I shook my head in a very cool 'this-little-kid-is-flipping-crazy-however-I-am-perfectly-sane' way, and he nodded.

"No! I'm practically related to him, anyway," I replied. He was almost like another family member – him and Al stuck together like glue.

"How?"

"By... by... well he's not technically a family member... we're mar–" I began.

"YOU'RE MARRIED?" she squealed, in a voice so loud and high pitched, it would have sent dogs barking all over the world.

"That's not what I was going to say," I shook my head vehemently – I was _going_ to say, before Miss Marple Wannabe so rudely interrupted me, _marginally like cousins_. But no, she couldn't let me finish my sentence.

"Oh My Merlin! I need to tell my friends!" she gasped, scurrying off down the corridor, squealing, "I just met this girl who's _married_!"

"Oh, so you leave me alone now," I grunted in a rather unladylike manner, just as Pearl emerged from the toilets, fully clothed in her Hogwarts robes.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"Not much, I've just been harassed by some weirdo eleven-year-old, but, come on, what's new? I'd better go and get changed," I said, locking myself in one of the bathroom cubicles to exchange my casual jeans outfit for my smart school uniform.

I was just in the process of smoothing down my hair (which stubbornly stayed where it was – nothing was ever going to happen, to be fair) when the train pulled to a stop; we were evidently at Hogsmeade station.

I scrambled up the aisle to get back to Scorpius and Al, who I always went to the castle with.

"Hey, Rose!" Al called to me over the sea of people that were pushing us out of the train and onto the platform. "We'll wait for you by the carriages!"

"Okay!" I shouted back, then proceeded to grunt as an eager second year elbowed me in the ribs. He muttered a quick apology before scooting off to join his friends, presumably. I bet Al and Scorpius weren't being elbowed by baby students. It was just my luck – cloud-arsed and elbowed.

What a fabulous life I was leading.

Deciding I was getting nowhere by being polite, I violently pushed my way through the crowd – I may have knocked out a few students on the way, but that was what Madam Pomfrey was for, wasn't it?

"There you are," Al said in satisfaction as I finally joined them, looking a little worse for wear after all the wrestling I had just had to do. "Come on, we need to get in a carriage, otherwise we'll be late, and we'll miss the food, and then we'll die in the Forbidden Forest after having being eaten by ravenous centaurs."

"Little dramatic, don't you think?" I replied, following them up the little path, where the next carriage was waiting to whisk us off to school. We had lost Pearl, so there was only the three of us to get in one, which was rather fortunate, as there were three spaces left in the carriage waiting.

"Might as well get in," Scorpius reasoned, climbing up the little steps and seating himself on one side of the seat. Al was in quick pursuit, leaving the gap in the middle for me. Great – now Scorpius would know exactly how huge my arse was.

This had turned out to be a fun day.

I put my hand on the door of the carriage and tried to lift myself up onto the bottom step, and managed successfully, but as I hauled myself in, I lost my footing and ended up – where else? – in Scorpius' lap. Seriously, I had fallen in it so many times today I might as well have set up permanent residence there, and have my post redirected from home to my new address.

"Oh my Merlin, I'm so sorry!" I gushed, my face undoubtedly tomato red. He just looked faintly amused, winked at me and gestured for me to sit down.

"Do you want to hold my hand whilst you do it to avoid tripping, Rose?" he teased good-naturedly. I thought it might be the best option, so nodded, making him laugh. Was it good if you made a boy laugh? Did it mean that they found you attractive, or stupid?

There was an intake of breath from the other occupants of the carriage as this happened – for Merlin's sake, it was only holding hands to prevent future falling in of laps! When I turned around to see who it was, I observed it was a group of second years, who had probably never held hands with anybody apart from a family member in their life.

Well, neither had I, but that wasn't the point.

"Thanks," I murmured as I sat comfortably between the two boys, silently praying that Scorpius didn't think that I was a candy-floss-haired weirdo. It was quite an easy conclusion to come to, but I just hoped he didn't manage to reason as far as it.

"What is James doing?" Al questioned vociferously as we began to drive off in the direction of the castle – we all turned round to see my cousin and his older brother practically eating Ophelia Blake's face, stumbling blindly towards a carriage and nearly falling in a bush.

Now that would have been funny.

"Ah, I think Ophelia mistook the glue in her bag for lip gloss and James is now unfortunately stuck to her mouth permanently. Good job they don't mind sharing saliva," I commented. Scorpius and Al exploded with laughter, roaring loudly and shaking as they guffawed so much I thought they might faint. Come on, it wasn't _that _funny. If I wasn't careful, I was going to give Scorpius the impression that I was the funny girl, not a brilliantly attractive girl.

Not that I was worried about him thinking I was attractive – no, that was preposterous, of course.

"Well, whatever it is, it's not taught at Hogwarts," Al grinned cheekily – I don't know why he was acting so innocent. I caught him in a classroom last year intertwined so closely with Elenore McCoy that I couldn't tell whose hands were whose – I think I was mentally damaged for life.

"Says you, the little angel," Scorpius winked at his best friend. Al grinned even more. Dear Merlin, I didn't want to know what my cousin got up to – it was none of my business and, quite frankly, it would probably disturb me to no end.

"Anyway, um, Rose, how's Pearl these days? Seeing as I didn't really have chance to talk to her," Al asked nonchalantly, leaning back and breathing in the cool autumn air that was descending upon the dark emerald trees bordering the dirt path we were rolling up.

"No, you were too busy gawping at her," I pointed out, making Scorpius chuckle even more. This was getting bad. I needed to become more serious. "Yes, she's absolutely fine. She had a good summer."

"She's, not, er, taken, is she?" he continued, examining his fingernails disinterestedly.

Okay, serious Rose, here we went. "I don't believe she is, she's single. I'll check with her for you, if you like," I replied, my voice nice and deep and hopefully sexy. I batted by eyelashes at Scorpius in what I hoped was a sultry manner. Merlin knows why I did that.

"Have you got something in your eye, Rose?" he asked in concern.

Maybe it wasn't so sultry after all, maybe just loony-eyelid-flickering.

"Erm, yes, but it's out now," I said, continuing with my deep voice. Nobody seemed to be picking me up on that, so perhaps it was as sexy as I hoped.

"Yes please – but don't make it obvious," Al said, ignoring any possible eye problems I might be suffering from.

"Fine, I will," I concluded, just as the carriage pulled out of the forest-lined track and we were granted the first proper view of Hogwarts castle.

Everybody was silent for a few moments, drinking in the full beauty of the castle we called home for most of the year. Made of warm grey stone, with hundreds of windows flickering yellow and orange invitingly, it just radiated warmth and happiness.

"It still stuns me every time," Scorpius breathed. I looked up at him. Our eyes locked for a moment – ice meeting cobalt... it was utterly magical.

"Well, we're here!" Al proclaimed, punching me on the arm. I tore my gaze away from Scorpius' stunning ice blue orbs and concentrated instead on getting out of the carriage without injuring myself or anybody else. I was lucky, and we all went in together and took seats at the Gryffindor table. Pearl and Esther came and sat by us – Pearl opposite me, by Al, and Esther on her other side. Me and Scorpius sat on the other side of the bench, and we chatted animatedly about what we'd done over the summer whilst other students filed in, also gossiping and catching up with each other.

I was just about to start a Jane Austen-centred conversation with Scorpius when Professor McGonagall made us all quieten down so the first years could be bought in. Unlike when my parents were at school, it was now Professor Longbottom who bought the first years in and put the Sorting Hat on their head. It was sitting silently on a forlorn wooden three-legged stool at the front, ready to be unleashed upon us.

The oak doors into the Great Hall opened and everybody's heads turned as the timid little first years filed in, led by the extremely caring Professor Longbottom, who carried a piece of parchment in his hands.

Just as they did this, Al started to kick me under the table, but when I looked up, he pretended he wasn't doing anything. Little toad-brain.

"Al, stop it!" I hissed.

"What?" he whispered back innocently.

"Kicking me!" I replied in annoyance as he did it again.

"I'm not kicking you!" he persisted. He was definitely a toad-brain now, even if he was supposed to be my best friend.

"Al, stop it, or I will beat you with my broomstick," Scorpius said in a mock-serious voice. I was too delighted to even care when I flung my arms around him in a manner too flirtatious for me usually – just as that annoying little first year from earlier walked past.

"See, I told you they were married!" she said in a very carrying-whisper. I flushed beetroot and everybody looked at Scorpius and me in incredulity.

"Did she just say we were _married_?" he asked in astonishment.

"Completely off her rocker," I tried to excuse it, but I was actually wishing inside for the ground to swallow me up – the only good thing was that Scorpius seemed to be talking to me more, ever since I put on that sexy deep voice.

"Rose?" Al asked.

"What?"

"Have you got a cold? Your voice sounds really funny."


End file.
